


bound to fall

by hale_and_hearty



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Canon Compliant, Coffee Shops, Engagement, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Post-Canon, Wedding Rings, can you believe i wrote something so mercilessly fluffy, dan works in a coffee shop, matt is sweet but dumb, or that it's not gay, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-21 00:38:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15545754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hale_and_hearty/pseuds/hale_and_hearty
Summary: "I'm getting a fake wedding ring," Dan announces. "If they don't respect me, maybe they'll respect my fictional fiance."Neil looks at Matt and says dryly, "That was honestly the best opportunity you could have asked for and you still blew it."-AKA, Dan is tired of getting hit on by creeps, and Matt is really bad at proposing.





	bound to fall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [empty_thoughts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/empty_thoughts/gifts).



"I'm done!" 

 

Matt flinches as the door is slammed shut, and even Neil looks up from his textbook, eyebrows raised as Dan storms into the dorm, looking furious. 

 

"I'm serious, Matt," she all but growls, "I can't keep doing this. I'm done."

 

Neil says, "This sounds like a private conversation, but I just have to say that I think you're a really good couple, and I'm rooting for you to work out your issues."

 

Dan blinks at him, registering his presence in the room, before her face softens. "Thanks, Neil, but I'm not mad at Matt. I'm mad at my job."

 

To Neil, Matt says, "Dan really likes her job, except for when she doesn't."

 

"Stop it," she orders, pointing at him, and Matt raises his hands in surrender. She's fuming as she throws herself down onto the sofa between them, and over her shoulder, Matt can see Neil's disgruntled expression as he gets an knee to the gut. Dan ignores him, pressing her face into Matt's stomach, and says, voice mumbled by his abdomen, "Why do boys keep hitting on me? Ugh. They're so gross."

 

"Agreed," Matt says, and pats her shoulder. "Want me to beat anyone up?"

 

Dan lifts her head only to assert, "I can beat them up just fine without you, thanks," and then drops her head again. Matt shrugs at Neil, because it's true, she could.

 

"What happened?" Neil asks warily, as if he's not sure he wants to know. Dan grunts into Matt's stomach. 

 

"This guy in, like, his thirties, hung out in the shop for two hours. Two whole ass hours. He sat at the bar and pestered me with questions the whole time. When I gave him his stupid latte, he asked me if it was made  _with love_. Even after I said no, he wouldn't leave me alone. My manager was there, or I would have just called it and decked him."

 

Matt frowns. "Your manager didn't do anything?"

 

Dan's voice is thunderous when she says, "No, of course not. He thinks we'll get more return customers if creepy guys get to lust after the female baristas."

 

Matt considers this, and meets Neil's gaze. Neil is frowning, too, looking like he might go fight everyone at the Court Cafe himself. Not that Dan would let either of them fight her battles for her. 

 

Before Matt can say anything else, Dan mutters, "Maybe I should just bite the bullet and get a wedding ring."

 

Matt goes completely still underneath her. He looks at Neil, who rolls his eyes. Neil helped him pick out a ring nearly two months ago. Matt just hasn't found the right time to ask.

 

"Um," Matt says, and Dan interrupts by exploding off of the couch. 

 

"I'm getting a fake wedding ring," she announces. "If they don't respect me, maybe they'll respect my fictional fiance."

 

With that, she storms out of the room. Neil looks at Matt and says dryly, "That was honestly the best opportunity you could have asked for and you still blew it."

 

Matt flips him off, and Neil goes back to his textbook. Later, Dan returns with a sparkling ring on her finger, and Matt seriously questions why he didn't just take the opportunity when it was presented.

  


* * *

 

"I love being fake engaged," Dan sighs, inspecting the ring on her finger. It's a rose gold band with three diamonds, a big one in the center and two smaller ones framing it. Matt glares at it, because honestly, it's a lot gaudier than the pearl he bought. Did he make the wrong choice? Who knows. Not Matt, because he's too chicken shit to just  _ask her_ already. 

 

Across the room, Allison looks up at them. She gives Matt a baleful look when Dan isn't paying attention, her icy blue eyes saying,  _That's your cue, dumbass_. 

 

"What if," Matt starts, and then clears his throat, trying to work up the nerve to say  _what if you were real engaged_ , when Dan cuts him off. 

 

"I'm thinking I'm going to add wedding bands in a few months." She's still looking at that stupid ring, and has no idea that Matt is internally screaming on the other end of the couch. "Fake Fiance and I are setting a date. I'm thinking January." 

 

Matt feels offended on behalf of Fake Fiance. "Isn't that a little soon? You've been engaged for two weeks."

 

Dan shrugs. "I'm easy, I don't need a big wedding."

 

Allison is smirking when she says, "Fake Fiance needs a name if he's going to become Hoax Husband."

 

Matt glares at her, but Dan lights up visibly. "You're right," she gushes. "What about... Josh?"

 

"What about Matt," Matt deadpans, and Dan's gaze flicks to him, her features softening. 

 

"Sorry, Mattie," she says, and Allison stifles a giggle at the nickname, "but I don't want to drag you into my lie. Josh is a great name for my fake husband."

 

"How'd you meet Josh, again?" Allison asks, the picture of innocence. Matt wonders how upset Neil would be if he killed her. He knows they're friends now, but. Honestly. It's like she's trying to make his life harder than it needs to be.

 

"Aw, Matt," Dan coos, catching sight of his murderous expression, "You know I love you. But I really  need to focus on my fiance right now. Don't be jealous."

 

Both girls burst into giggles, and Matt wishes he'd gone to play stupid Exy with Neil and Kevin instead of hanging out with the girls today.

 

 

* * *

 

In January, Dan and Josh get married. Dan gushes about it as she shows off her wedding bands, which perfectly match the ring. They're even engraved-- _DJ Forever_. Matt is both seriously impressed by her dedication to this lie, and also annoyed. Why don't  _they_ have a cool couple name? 

 

"Honestly," Dan is saying, flashing her ring by casually running a hand through her short hair, "this is the best decision I've ever made. All I have to do is pretend to scratch my nose, and it's like boys forget I exist. I should have done this a million years ago."

 

Matt is pouting on the other side of the bar. The shop is empty except for a basketball player on his laptop. He'd been checking Dan out when he walked in, but after she flashed the ring, it really was like she just ceased to exist. Matt is a little proud, but also, annoyed. Why couldn't his presence at the bar seating be enough to scare off that douchebag? 

 

"Because your real boyfriend is a little better in bed?" Matt asks hopefully. Dan laughs at him. 

 

"I named my vibrator Josh," she admits, unabashedly. She's grinning from ear to ear. Matt deflates. 

 

Resting his head on his elbows, he mumbles, "Can you just put my drink into a to-go cup? I don't wanna be late for class."

 

"Sure, baby," Dan agrees, voice all soft and sweet, and when she passes him, she gently ruffles her fingers through his hair as an afterthought. It only makes Matt feel a little better. 

 

* * *

 

In March, Matt finally has enough. And apparently, so has Neil, because he's the one who forces Matt's hand. 

 

It's Dan's birthday, and she's two beers in and glowing as she blows out candles and hugs everyone, her cheeks flushed as she beams around at everyone. That stupid fake wedding ring is still on her finger. Matt knows, objectively, that she just forgot to take it off after work, but that doesn't make it any less glaringly obvious. Renee is taking pictures, and all Matt can think is how noticeable that ring is going to be on her finger if the pictures end up on Facebook. It leaves him feeling a little murderous. 

 

"Hey," Neil says, passing behind Dan with a gentle hand to her shoulder, "Happy Birthday."

 

Dan grins up at him. "Thanks, Neil," she says, and drags him into a hug. Neil only looks a little reluctant, and Matt watches as he whispers something to Dan, whose gaze flits to Matt before she looks away quickly. She whispers something back, and Neil shrugs, and the two part after another quick hug. 

 

Matt is taking a shot for liquid courage--he decided three weeks ago tonight was going to be the night, and damn it if he doesn't hold himself to his own decision--when Dan slides her hand into his and presses her body up against him. 

 

"Hey," she whispers, "Can we go somewhere private to talk?"

 

Matt's let way too many opportunities pass him by, so he follows her lead outside, where hipster string lights run the length of the bar parking lot, affecting a romantic atmosphere. Matt couldn't have asked for a better view. 

 

"Neil said you needed to tell me something," Dan says as soon as the door closes behind them. It's so much quieter out here that her voice sounds too loud, and she drops it to a near whisper towards the end. 

 

Matt blanks, and for a second, he thinks he's just going to give up again. And then he remembers that they graduate in two months, and he kind of wants to have their future set in stone before Court offers start rolling in. 

 

He drops to one knee--winces as gravel bites into his skin through his jeans--and fumbles into his pocket for the ring box and says, like an idiot, "Uh, I want to--would you--can we get married?"

 

Dan blinks, and then looks at the ring when he finally gets the box open. There's no visible reaction on her face, and Matt's palms are sweating profusely, and then she arches one slim eyebrow and says, "God, I was wondering when you were going to crack. It took forever."

 

"Huh?" Matt says intelligently.

 

Dan breaks into a grin, and he watches as she reaches for the ring on her finger, slides it off, and chucks it across the parking lot.

 

"Of course I want to marry you, dumbass," she laughs, and grabs for the ring in his box without waiting for him to catch up. She slides it onto her own finger and is all smiles as she admires it. "I've been waiting for you to ask for  _months_. I really thought that stupid wedding ring was going to do the trick, but you're so  _obtuse_. I thought I was going to die married to some fictional idiot named Josh."

 

"Huh?" Matt says again, staring at her, and Dan smiles sweetly and drags him up to his feet so she can pepper his face with kisses. 

 

"Matt, sweetie, I love you, but you're very dumb," she whispers, and oh, shit, those are tears glittering in her eyes. "Did you really think I couldn't fight off assholes at work? Honestly. You don't get to be captain of the Foxes by taking everyone's shit. The ring was to kick your ass into gear." She kisses him again. "You just took a while to catch up to me."

 

Matt kisses her, hard, and then pulls away to admire the way his ring looks on her finger. Stupidly, he says, "I bought that in July," and he's tearing up, too, as Dan laughs and says, "I know, baby, Neil told me."

 

They kiss again. When they return to the party, Dan hollers, "He finally asked!" and Matt sees money being exchanged between several hands. He doesn't even care, though, he thinks, looking down at the ring on Dan's finger. As long as Neil won, and Matt gets to have Dan forever. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> loosely based on my own experience working at a coffee shop--and also my coworkers' experiences, because men really are that creepy and don't even get me started on my theory that they prey on us at work when they know we can't escape--and wearing a fake wedding ring because men are pigs. somehow this ended up being about straight people and boy i am just as surprised as you are.
> 
> title from epilogue by keaton henson.


End file.
